Directors: Henny Boeters, Ben Van Heeswijk, David Klatt and Judie Wigcherink
Attendance:
Members: 6
Guests: Rotarians from the Blenheim, Chatham and Dresden clubs as well as spouses/partners and friends of Rotary.
Birthdays: None
Anniversaries: Kees and Henny Boeters 55 year Blake and Frances Sheet 61 Year and Bill and Carena Long 51 Year
Meeting Date: Monday Aug 11, 2025 at 4:00 pm
Correspondence: None
Program:
The club hosted a very informative and interesting program touring the Truly Green greenhouses in Chatham
In addition, the District Governor Elect for D6380, Lee Halsted and his wife Lois attended from Michigan
The tour was arranged by Ridgetown Rotarian and Assistant Governor Kees Boeters
The tour leader was Joe Barkhouse, Director of Operations at Truly Green along with a couple of personnel.
In 2012, Truly Green had plans to construct a 90-acre state-of-the-art greenhouse operation devoted to growing tomatoes
Land was secured across the road from Green Field Global and engineered solutions were developed to deliver CO2 and the waste water streams to the greenhouse
Construction began in late 2012 with Phase 1 consisting of 22.5 acres, with the first crop planted on July 4th, 2013
The CO2 connection was established in 2014 and the waste heat flowed in 2017
The growth of the company saw Phase 2 constructed in 2015, Phase 3 in 2018, and the final block of Phase 4 built in 2021
A total of 90 acres of production is dedicated to growing tomatoes on the vine, cocktail tomatoes, and grape tomatoes
Joe stated Truly Green could not have achieved all of the success that has occurred without a dedicated team of people
The employees that work in the greenhouse are from Jamaica and Thailand with housing provided on site by Truly Green
The tomatoes are marketed under the Sunset label to countries such as the US, Japan, Hong Kong
Joe mentioned that 80% of the product goes to the US and at this time no tariffs are applied, but for the future it is unknown
Following the tour provided with excellent commentary by Joe and his help, the tour group enjoyed socializing and fellowship over a meal at the Boston Pizza in Chatham
Thanks are extended to Rotarian Kees Boeters for arranging the tour and to the Truly Green personnel for their expert conduction of the tour
Thanks to Boston Pizza for serving almost 30 participants
The next meeting is a Summer BBQ, on Aug 26 2025 at 12241 Rose beach Line, east of Rondeau
The theme for the 25-26 Rotary year is“Unite for Good”
Joe Barkhouse,
Director of Operations at Truly Green
Joe Barkhouse and Rotarian Kees Boeters
The production line at Truly Green
Joe Barkhouse providing information about Truly Green
Joe Barkhouse providing information about Truly Green